who's who

Optimist Creations works with different people in different settings. Listed here are the core team who have been and are currently closely involved with our projects.

sebastian michael

founder - optimist creations

Sebastian was born in Manchester, UK, into a Swiss family. He grew up in Basel, Switzerland, where his ﬁrst two plays, Sentimental Breakdown... and Dialog were staged while he was still at school and university. Since moving to London at the age of 21, he has written several stage plays, among them The Power of Love, Love Hurts and Time After Time, which together now form the Love Trilogy and each of which individually reached the shortlist, long list and ﬁnal ten respectively of Soho Theatre's Verity Bargate Award in separate years. Elder Latimer is in Love premiered to critical acclaim at Arcola Theatre in September 2009 and Baur au Lac had its first rehearsed reading in April 2010, starring Susannah York. His latest play Top Story is now scheduled for a four week run at one of London's most exciting and dynamic Off-West End venues in January 2013. Earlier plays of Sebastian's were seen on the London and Edinburgh fringe and include QED, Sisters and All the World. He also wrote the book and lyrics for the musical Monstersound which made it into the ﬁnal round of the Musical of the Year Competition in Copenhagen and the book for Alvaro's Balcony, which was shown at the Landor Theatre in 2008.

Sebastian has written and directed two short ﬁlms: Twenty-Six Takes on Life without Allen, which was screened at festivals in Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Lisbon and Padua, and The Study of Bunkers & Mounds in a Temperate Climate (Relatively Speaking), which was in the ofﬁcial selection for the International Film Festival Locarno 2007. His ﬁrst feature ﬁlm The Hour of Living was completed in February 2012 and has since been nominated for the Basel Film Prize in the 'Best Feature' category and shown at festivals in Italy and New York.Sebastian has also written a novel, Angel, and he is the writer of Genius Planet, a collaboration with Prof Ludger Hovestadt and Vera Bühlmann of ETH Zürich which postulates a radical roadmap from energy scarcity to abundance and is due for publication in 2013.sebastianmichael.com

adam berzsenyi bellaagh

director - elder latimer is in love, top story, baur au laccodirector - the hour of living

Born in Stockholm, Sweden to Hungarian parents, Adam Berzsenyi Bellaagh is a Swedish-Hungarian theatre and film director. Adam studied directing at Drama Centre London, where he was a student of acclaimed British director Di Trevis. Upon graduating in 2008, he directed his own new version of Swedish playwright Lars Noren’s epic Night is Mother to The Day, which enjoyed high critical success in Hungary and in Sweden. In 2009, Adam directed A Slight Ache by Harold Pinter in Budapest, before making his London directing debut with Elder Latimer is in Love by Sebastian Michael at Arcola Theatre. Following the success of this production, Adam co-directed his first feature film, The Hour of Living with Sebastian Michael at Optimist Creations. In 2011, Adam directed two new plays in Budapest, the German children’s play Schwarz wie Tinte at Kolibri Childrens Theatre and the Hungarian premiere of Mark Ravenhill’s Product, which he translated himself, at the Merlin International Theatre. Adam also gained experience in opera directing working as an assistant director at the prestigious Müpa - Palace of Arts in Budapest - and, most recently, at the Center for Contemporary Opera in New York City, working as a translator for acclaimed Hungarian director Robert Alföldi. In the autumn of 2012 Adam directed a new version of Antigone by Sophocles in Budapest, before setting off to London to work on Sebastian Michael's new play Top Story. Adam is due to direct at the Barka Theatre in Budapest in early 2013, before returning to London once more to direct Sebastian Michael's Baur au Lac.

caroline couret-delègue

producer - top story, baur au lac

Caroline Couret-Delègue is a French producer who started her career in the ﬁlm industry in Hollywood in 2005. Her post graduate studies in business management helped her secure a job right away at Deviant Films where she got involved with the production of several motion pictures including Big Stan starring Rob Schneider, The Last Word with Winona Rider and Wes Bentley (nominated for the Grand Jury prize at Sundance in 2008) and The Chosen One, starring Rob Schneider, Steve Buscemi and Holland Taylor. In 2008 she decided to relocate to Europe and joined the team of producers at Seven Arts Pictures Plc in London where she worked for 3 years as Director of Development and Marketing. She was overseeing an average of 5 projects per year, from development through distribution, with budgets ranging from $3M to $65M. She developed projects such as Neuromancer, a $65M Sci-ﬁ movie to be directed by Vincenzo Natali, Mortal Armor: The Legend of Galahad with producer Gale Anne Hurd and director Jon Amiel, horror comedy hit Night of the Demons starring Edward Furlong, Diora Baird and Shannon Elizabeth, Catwalk by Anthony Hickox starring Julie Ordon and Kevin Mckidd and Danny Dyer now in pre-production. In March 2011, she founded Cherry Picked Pictures, an independent consulting company specialised in the Entertainment Industry in response to an increased market demand for outsourcing. Cherry Picked Pictures provides services for International Sales Agents, International Distributors, and Independent Producers. She is also currently producing two theatre plays in London, Baur au Lac and Top Story, both earmarked for 2013.

gary grant

director - daisy's last standactor - the study of bunkers & mounds in a temperate climate (relatively speaking), the hour of living

As an actor Gary Grant has been a regular feature on British television since appearing as Ty in Hollyoaks from 1999 to 2000. Various television roles followed, but he's probably best known for his two year stint as DC Paul Riley in ITV's The Bill.

Other credits include eleven films between 2002 and 2007 and various theatre productions including his role as Silver in the premiere run of Jim Cartwright's acclaimed play Hard Fruit at The Royal Court. Gary made his directorial debut with the multi-award winning Daisy's Last Stand in July 2009, has since gone on to direct feature film Lighter for Solaris Productions and is in pre production for his debut feature as a writer/director.

geoff widdowson

sound designer - elder latimer is in love, top storysound recordist - the hour of living

Since completing a degree in Music and Electronics at Glasgow University, Geoff has been writing, recording and playing music with numerous acts around Europe and the world. In 2007 he appeared on records alongside members of Sonic Youth, Belle and Sebastian and Teenage Fanclub in Sushil K Dade's Future Pilot AKA. Then Geoff toured across the USA supporting James with Unkle Bob in 2008. More recently he has been working with Wake the President, Danny and the Champions of the World and starting his new act, The Space Machines. Geoff was Sound Designer on Elder Latimer is in Love and he also recorded and in parts post-produced the sound for Sebastian Michael’s ﬁrst feature ﬁlm The Hour of Living.

moritz behrens

designer - elder latimer is in love, top story

Moritz - architect, designer and cabinetmaker - was born in Munich in 1979. He has been working with various projects ranging from furniture and retail design to photography works and theatre. In 2005 he worked at Berlin's renowned Volksbühne theatre, designing the stage for the piece In Mikronesien by Pierre Alferi as Assistant Designer. In London, Moritz designed Elder Latimer is in Love by Sebastian Michael, at Arcola Theatre. Besides his technical architectural works, Moritz has a passion for photography, ﬁne arts and sculpture. From his origins as a cabinet maker also stems his affection for woodworks. Working as a freelancer in Berlin, Moritz likes to combine conventional wooden materials with unconventional and modern set-ups. Experimentation with different perceptions of room and space has always been a focal point in his works. moritzbehrens.com

richard lambert

lighting designer - elder latimer is in love, top story, baur au lac

Richard has 35 years of experience lighting shows in theatres, arenas, TV studios, opera houses, on cruise ships and ice rinks. His previous lighting design credits include ice shows for Walt Disney’s World on Ice touring the World. He was the resident lighting designer for the Ice Theatre of New York, concurrently for two years, providing technical lighting support on many Broadway shows. Additional credits include Assistant Lighting Designer on Skates of Gold III for ABC Television, Skating in the Park for CBS television, and Associate for opening show of the ﬂagship Hyatt Regency Hotel in Seoul, Korea. Pantomimes (Aladdin, Cinderella, Sing a Song of Sixpence, Peter Pan, Hansel and Gretel, Jack and the Beanstalk), plays (Round and Round the Garden, Night Must Fall, The Pyjama Game), musicals (Oklahoma, Guys and Dolls, Carousel), plus operettas (HMS Pinafore, Iolanthe, Mikado), summer seasons and numerous cabarets. Lighting designs for fringe include: Marry Me a Little, Muscles, Class Act, Do I Hear a Waltz, Follies, I Love You Because, Alvaro’s Balcony, Into the Woods.Recent projects include: Lighting design for Elemental, an ice skating show outdoors on Lake Louise Alberta Canada, Silence the Musical, Vincent River, Discotivity and Seduction, several Gala Award Dinners including the Grand Prix Gala Dinner in Abu Dhabi UAE, Beck Vier Commercial Video. Programming and Support for Riverdance the UK Tour, Flashdance the Musical at the Shaftesbury Theatre, Under the Bridge Nightclub at Chelsea Football Club, Diversity UK Tour, Fashion Week at Waterloo Station, HMV Conference at Hammersmith Apollo (Olly Murs, Tinie Tempah, Paloma Faith, Eliza Doolittle, Black Eyed Peas). Stage Lighting Installations include Woodside High School, Above the Stag, and the Phoenix Artist Club. Richard was the video designer for Blink Again!, lighting and video designer for Snoopy the Musical, and lighting designer on Elder Latimer is in Love at Arcola Theatre.lambcolighting.co.uk